Stephen Simmons, the Scottish heavyweight, has suffered a blow to his chances of making the Olympic Games in Beijing, but he could still make the Great Britain team.
The Edinburgh boxer was stopped in the fourth round by Milorad Gajovic, of Monte-negro, in his second bout at the amateur world championships in Chicago. Simmons had won his opening fight against Senegal's Ousmane Diatta inside the first round, but he found Gajovic more formidable and was eliminated at the last-16 stage. It later emerged Simmons was ahead on points when the fight was stopped.
The 23-year-old needed to reach the semi-finals to book a place at Beijing with time to spare, but he retains hope of making the trip to China next summer. He can now focus on the Olympic qualification event for European boxers, which begins in late February in Pescara, Italy.
nMikkel Kessler surfaced yesterday promising youth and fitness would prevail in his world super-middleweight title clash against Joe Calzaghe in Cardiff early on Sunday morning.
The unbeaten Dane has kept a low profile in the build-up to the clash for supremacy which is expected to attract more than 50,000 fans to the Millennium Stadium.
Kessler, who is seven years Calzaghe's junior, attended a media commitment and spoke confidently of dethroning the Welshman, who has reigned as champion for a decade. "I'm young and fresh and my career has gone so well up to this point," said Kessler. "It is a dream come true and a big step up for me. We are unbeaten champions and it is going to be a great fight."
Asked to pinpoint a Cal-zaghe weakness he intends to exploit, Kessler, who will put his WBC and WBA belts on the line against Calzaghe's WBO version, claimed: "His age, but I'm not saying I have to meet an old guy. Joe's a great fighter and a gentleman. He has always kept himself in good shape and looked good in his last fights."
Perhaps Calzaghe's recently revealed retirement plans have inspired Kessler. However, at 35, the Welshman did not show signs of creaking limbs when he polished off Peter Manfredo inside three rounds in April.
Kessler has won all 39 of his pro fights against Calzaghe's 43, and has been a world champion since defeating Manny Siaca three years ago.
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